One Body

We have been called into a glorious unity as members of the body of Christ - we worship the same God and we have the same Spirit, the Holy Spirit, moving in and through us. In Galatians 3, we can read:
26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Being "one" in Christ doesn't mean that we are all the same - we can celebrate our differences and realize that each of us has a unique call from God upon our lives.  He will show us how we can be joined together as members of that one body in order that we might contribute to the furtherance of the gospel.  The unity of the Church, based on our love for one another, is an expression to the world of Christ's love.

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In Paul's writings, in 1st Corinthians 12, he emphasizes the importance of recognizing that we are part of one body of Christ. He states:
(24) But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it,
25 that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.
26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

One of the topics that I feel an obligation to cover from time to time, especially in a time in which we have seen racial division and cultural polarization, is how the Lord Jesus is bringing His body together.  Now, the choice of where you worship is defined by a number of factors, including the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  And, I would submit that if you worship in a church that reflects your personal preference in worship style, preaching, and even demographic makeup, for whatever reason, you can still recognize your belonging to the body of Christ, which is comprised of people who look and behave differently.

I set out to find some research on what would be termed "multicultural" congregations.  Now, Pew Research just released a survey that says that among African-Americans who attend religious services "at least a few times a year," 60% indicated they attended a majority Black congregation, with 25% indicating they were part of a multicultural congregation and 13% saying they went to a church with a majority made up of white or perhaps another race.

There is a lot of old information out there about members of different races worshipping together.  This was a recent survey; you can go back three years and find a Religion News article about multiracial churches.  The article states:

The percentage of U.S. multiracial congregations almost doubled between 1998 and 2012, from 6.4 percent to 12 percent, according to a study published in June in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. In the same period, the percentage of U.S. congregants attending an interracial church has reached almost one in five, advancing from 12.7 percent to 18.3 percent. The 2012 statistics are the latest available.

The article centers on the example of One Church in Louisville, pastored by Ja’mel Armstrong and Matt Ness. The article says:

It’s a work in progress, they acknowledge, but the African-American and white co-pastors say they believe their congregation, which is close to 50 percent black and 50 percent white, is more fulfilling than the more racially segregated churches they used to lead.

Ness said, “On our own, we just didn’t feel like that’s who we were meant to be,” adding, “The picture we believed in was much broader than the local church I was pastoring and the local church Ja’mel was pastoring.” Armstrong related, “We didn’t want to be defined by a particular style and so we didn’t tell you to stand up. We didn’t tell you to lift your hands. We didn’t tell you how to worship...The goal was: If you are naturally contemplative in your worship style, then you be that. If you are naturally expressive, then you be that.”

It reminds me of the conversation I had recently on The Meeting House with Jay Stewart and Derrick Hawkins, authors of the book, Welded: Forming Racial Bonds That Last, and co-pastors at The Refuge, a multi-site church in North Carolina. The website for the book says:

Racial unity begins when we review our own value system. Welded paints a picture of true, biblical community as two pastors, Jay Stewart and Derrick Hawkins, join their churches in the midst of racial tensions.

The site reminds us that "...it is the Gospel that unites us."

No matter where we choose to worship, we can rejoice that God has called us into a body, the body of Christ, with Christ as the head.  And, if Christ is head of our relationships, then we can be cognizant of the potential for His love to flow and confident that He will work, even through and in spite of our differences.  The love of Christ will enable us to see people who are different than we are racially, culturally, and ideologically through His eyes and enable us to exercise charity.

The Church is called to function as one unit.  Now, congregations arise for a host of reasons, but we should not possess an attitude of division.  And, we should not adopt an attitude of arrogance toward our brothers and sisters in the Lord - we should make sure that we are in the church body to which God has called us, but we don't need to be superior or exclusive about it. We can also search our hearts to see if we are harboring attitudes toward people of another race that do not line up with God's intent.